The DA, whose executive mayor, Cilliers Brink, faces imminent removal by the Tshwane council, has lashed out at ActionSA president Herman Mashaba, accusing him of sacrificing the metro’s stability and the progress made in turning around the city at the altar of political expediency.
ActionSA’s senate, its highest decision-making body, elected to cut ties with the DA-led multiparty government in the metro, in which its councillor Nasiphi Moya serves as deputy mayor.
Gauteng metros are grappling with fiscal challenges, corruption, a lack of expert human capital and political instability, with the frequent changes of municipal office-bearers causing a breakdown in the delivery of basic services.
Mashaba said on Monday the decision to leave the multiparty government of the Tshwane metro was not taken “on a whim to satisfy anyone’s ego or to spite anyone, especially when there is a government already in place that works for the people of ... Tshwane”.
“We have always spoken against unnecessary changes to governments that work but we cannot, with a clear conscience, remain quiet in the face of clear abuses of public confidence through spin, especially where the management of public finances is concerned. ActionSA will always stand for the truth,” Mashaba said.
ActionSA has accused the DA of undermining it. It also accused DA councillors of having spoilt their ballots instead of voting for an ActionSA speaker candidate. This subsequently led to the election of African Transformation Movement (ATM) councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana as speaker in March 2023.
Among other ActionSA accusations are that the DA in Tshwane neglects service delivery in black townships, an allegation the DA denies.
Tshwane is run by a multiparty coalition including the DA, IFP, African Christian Democratic Party, Freedom Front Plus and Defenders of the People. ANC Tshwane regional chair Eugene Modise has said a motion of no confidence against Brink would be tabled on September 26.
Mashaba said ActionSA was aware of the confusion caused by events in Tshwane, with some people thinking that ActionSA planned to “blindly go into a coalition in support of an ANC it has always sworn to never support”.
We will never support, nor allow ActionSA to be used, to shield corruption and other forms of abuses, irrespective of whom we get into a coalition with.
— Herman Mashaba, ActionSA president
He said: “We will never support nor allow ActionSA to be used to shield corruption and other forms of abuses, irrespective of whom we get into a coalition with.”
He said ActionSA wanted more time to consult with possible coalition partners for the best outcome. “The results of these consultations will be made public as soon as they are concluded. Everyone should rest assured that should we fail to secure an alternative coalition government we can confidently be part of, ActionSA will happily rejoin the opposition benches in Tshwane.”
DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp said ActionSA’s conduct towards coalition partners, supporters and the public had been characterised by “lies, deceit and betrayal”.
“It is clear that ActionSA’s turn on the Tshwane coalition has nothing to do with service delivery, the residents of Tshwane or the future of the city ... ActionSA has no plan for Tshwane aside from voting in a motion of no confidence to collapse a functioning government,” Aucamp said.
“The DA will fight to preserve the progress we have made with our coalition partners in Tshwane and to stop Mashaba for delivering the worst possible outcome for the city.”
Aucamp accused Mashaba of being intent on destroying ActionSA, saying that while the party would “surely be eviscerated in the 2026 local government election”, the Tshwane metro should not suffer the same fate.
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